Newsweek is in hot water after its Pakistan edition editor tweeted in defence of child abuse

An editor for Newsweek’s edition in Pakistan tweeted what many took as a defence of sexual abuse against children, leading the publication to review its relationship with the Pakistan licensee.

The editor later apologised and blamed the tweets on anger over an ongoing case investigating rape and murder of a seven-year-old girl, which he was originally tweeting about.

Newsweek has been having a rough patch, making questionable editorial decisions and being investigated by the Manhattan district attorney’s office.

An editor for Newsweek’s Pakistan edition came under fire on Tuesday after appearing to defend child abuse in the wake of an arrest in a grizzly child rape and murder case that unfolded in Pakistan’s Punjab province.

The editor, Fasih Ahmed, retweeted a Twitter thread urging due process for a man arrested and accused of raping and murdering a seven-year-old girl, and then Ahmed shared his own thoughts on the topic.

“The sexual abuse of children will always exist. You can never eliminate it. Sometimes it leads to great art. So there’s also that,” Ahmed tweeted. He later deleted the tweet.

“Child sexual abuse has always happened, is happening, and will always continue. Two days of outrage on Twitter and participating in a 10-person vigil may make you feel so noble but that’s all just about you, not those who’ve been victimized,” he continued.

“Recent tweets by Newsweek Pakistan editor @therealfasih do not represent the views of @Newsweek. We are reviewing our relationship with @NewsweekPak, which operates under a licence agreement,” the publication’s official account tweeted.

A Twitter account claiming to represent the Lahore Literature Festival then tweeted that Ahmed had resigned from the organisation’s board.

On Wednesday, Ahmed apologised for his remarks, posting that his earlier tweets “were coming from anger, were poorly phrased, and misread.”

“I’m sorry to have upset the people who have survived child abuse,” he wrote. “I have been angry at the conspiracy of silence around this evil.”